Emergency brake and signaling device for motor cars



Feb. 28, 1928.

L. FAZEKAS EMERGENCY BRAKE AND SIGNALING DEVICE FOR MOTOR CARS Filed Feb 13. 1927 Patented Feb. 28, 1928.

I insane uairso srATss' PA EN E-1 LEOPOLD FAZEKAS, or- KALOCSA, HUNGARY,

EMERGENCY BRAKE, AND SIGNALING, DEVICE non MOTOR cans.

Application filed February 18, 1927, Serial No. isaso'z, and in'fiungary December 30, 1926'.

This invention relates to an emergency brake and signaling device forvmotor cars,

which enables the passenger in cases of emergency, for instance should anything happen a to the driver, so that the car becomes driver'- less, or should any danger threaten thepassengcr through some action of the driver or through some other cause, to bring the car to a. standstill from his own seat, independio ently of the driver, by means of a separate, second brake operating device and-at the same time by audible or visible signals to call the attention of pass'ers-by or the police to the fact that something is not in order or that the occupants of the car are threatened in some way by danger. This emergency brake and signaling device which is entirely independent of the or dinary brake and signaling devices operated as from the drivers seat consists according to the present invention of a device which is located in the interior of the car within reach of the passenger and is capable of being operated by actuating means which are secured when in the inoperative position like the handles of railway carriage emergency signaling devicesby a lead seal against improper use, which is to be broken in cases of emergency, either by interrupt-- ing the ignition circuit of: the motor and thereby stopping the motor orby connect ing up a siren, as an audible signal, or a lamp or other noticeable signal, as a visible emergency signal in the circuit of a bat tery or accumulator and at the sametime releasing a second brake operating device which is independent of the drivers brake "from its inoperative position and coupling the same with some moving part of the car gearing or with a separate electrically or spring-operated motor which imparts to the said emergency brake device a motion which intermittently operates the existingbrakes'.

This emergency brake arrangement which can be made not only in accordance with the various types of cars but also in the most varied manner, as well as the engine which has been put out of operation, but still continues to runidly and therefore exerts a braking action,- thus making it-possible to bring the car torest in a very short time independently of the driver, while the two signals, the acoustic and opticalsignal are at the same time intended to call for help.

In the accompanying drawing a construcfront wheel brakes 1, the rear wheel brakes 2,

tional example of such an emergency brake and signaling device according to-the present invention is shown diagrammatically,

Figure 1 being a general view showing the device applied to a motor car, r

Figure 2 a diagrammatic View showing the relative arrangement of the existing brake arrangement and of the emergency brake arrangement. I I Figures 3 andt show details of the emergency brake arrangement.

In Figure'l of the drawlng the motor car and the ordinary brake arrangement to be operated by the driver are "shown in thin lines, the emergency brake and signaling device-forming the subjectotthepresent invention being indicated'by thicker lines. The former brake arrangement consists, as shown in Figurcsl and 2, of the well-known the drivers brake lever amounted on the 'fforward brake shaft 3, the rear brakeshaft 5, the connecting bar 6 connecting the two brake shafts. 3 and 5 and connected tothe lever arms 7 and Set the brake shafts 3 and 5. The forward brake shaft 3 is connected by two arms 9 mounted thereon and connecting bars lO'to the front wheel brakes 1, while therear brake shaft 5 is connected by the levers 11 mounted thereon and connecting'bars 12to the rear wheel brakes 2 Thus, by'moving the brake lever 4 in the direction of the arrow a all the brakes are simultaneously applled by the arrangement just described; On the lever 4 being. re-

leased, the shafts 3 and 5 and the lever 4 itselflar'e returned by the-springs ,wh ich'release the brakes bymeans'of the connecting bars 10, 12 and 6 into their inoperative position, which circumstance is made u'seof in the emergency brake arrangement to be de' scribed below. The emergency brake device forming part of the present invention is actually a" second, automatic operating means for the above described well-known brake arrangement, which is so constructed that it is normally always secured in the inoperative position by a locking device'whieh can only be released by the passenger and, when in this position, cannot inany way interfere with the normal operation of the brakes bythe driver and conversely cannot be in any way influenced by the normal operation of thevbrakes, while, when released from the inoperative position and becoming operative,it automatically operates the entire brake arrangement, although the drivcrs brake lever 4 is locked. The emergency brake arrangement consists substantially of a lever arm 13 mounted on one of the brake shafts 3 or 5, in the example shown for instance on the shaft 5, to which lever 13 a push bar 14iis pivoted, the unsupported end of which, when in the inoperative position is held up by a detent 15 in opposition to a spring 16 which seeks to rock the push bar 14, downwards,and 1s secured in this position. A tension spring'lh which acts on thelever arm 18and consequently pushes the pull bar lt against the detent '15, secures the push'bar 1a in the locked position. The pushbar leirwhleh is guided in a vertical slotted guide l7is provi'ded at a distance from its end with a lug 18 which, when the detent '15 is released and the push 141's thereupon rocked downwards by the spring 15 (as shown in Fig. 1 in dot and dash lines),engages with a cam wheel 19 keyed to the rear wheel axle, whereby the push bar 14 which 'is under the action of the spring 13 which pushes it rearwards has a :to-and-fro motion imparted to it,

,thereby intermittently operating the brakes through the lever arm 13, untiljthe car comes to a standstill. Obviously the to-andfro motion of the push bar 14 can bederived .in any other way from any other moving member of the car or by an electric or spring operated 1notor, without departing in any way fromthe spirit of the invention.

For enabling the brakes to be applied in this intermittent manner independently of the drivers brakelever & which continues'to be locked and independently ofthe transmission means 6,7, 8 which coacts with the said lever, the hubs of'vthe brake lever l and of the lever arm 8 on the brake shaft 5,

which operated the said brake 'lever',

and the .hub of thelever arm 13 are so constructed that the brake shafts 3 and 5 can turn freely in thesaid hubs in the opposite direction'to-that of the arrow 6 (Fig. 3) in which direction they are stressed through the rods 6 and 10, 10 or 12, 12 by the springs which release the brakes, when carrying the respective lever arms around with them, while, conversely the lever arms 4-, 8 01' 13, Whenturned in the opposite direction to that of the arrow 6, carry the brake shafts 3 and 5 around with them, thereby operating the brakes. -For this purpose the hubs of the levers 4, 8 and 13 are provided, as shown in Figure 3. in a very simple manner with an elongated sl0t20 extending in the direction of rotation, in which the drivingpin 21 fixed in the brake shaft 3 or 4 respectively engages, which, owing to therbrake shaft being loaded so asto have a tendency to turn in the direction I), alwaysrests against that end of the corresponding slot 20 which leads in the direction, 5. The two brake shafts 3 and 5 are provided with rigid arms 7 and 8 which are oppositely directed to the arms 7 and 8 and which are connected together by a connecting bar (3 Tlnsconnection 6 7 8 serves the purpose oftransmittmg the braking motion initiated by the lever arm 13 to thebrake shaft 3, in which case the latter turns freely in the hub of thelocked drivers brake lever at and the brake shaftb in the hub ofthe lever arm 8,

while, when the brakes are operated nor-' with the lever 22 so as to rock with the latter is coupled to the free arm of the cranked de-' tentrlaofthe push bar leby means of a connecting bar 2 1. -The lever 22 itself is normally secured in its inoperative position against improper use by a seal which can be broken. On the lever 22 being turned in casejof emergency into the position shownin dot and dash lines, the seal being torn (Fi 1), the detent 15 is turned by means ofthe arm 23 and the pull bar 24 into the position shownin broken lines'and releasesthe "end of the push bar 14 which in the manner al ready described engages under the action-of the spring 16 with the cam disc l9 an'd intermlttently operates the brakes as'long as the car continues to run. With the emergency brake arrangement just described emergency signals and" an arrangement for I stopping the engine are connected, all these arrangements coming nto operation along with the emergency brake arrangement.

The emergency signals consist of an acoustic and opticalsignal, which, on the emergency brake being released, are connected up by the lever 22 in thecircuitof an accunniiator or a' battery 25, and the arrangement for stopping the engine consists of a contact device in the ignition circuit of the engine, which can be interruptedby thelever The acoustic emergency signal for instance of an electric siren 26 and the optical emergency signal for instance a coloured electric lam-p27 both are connected up in the circuit of the battery 25 in parallel. One of the battery leads is interrupted by contacts 29,

30 which slide on a commutator disc 28' mounted on therotary shaftof thelever 22;

To twoother c0ntactsv31 and 32,'which also slide'on thecommutator disc28, the ignition circuit 33 of the engine is connected, Thecommutator disc 28 is provided with a contact plate 24 which in theposition of rest of the lever 22 keeps the contacts 31, 32 closed and thereby keeps the engine ignition intact. The other two contacts 29 and 30 rest against the insulated part of-the disc 28,

the emergency signals 26 and 27 thus being.

;a tact plate 34 comes in contact with the contacts 29, 30 which it closes, thereby connect ing up the two emergency signals 26 and 27 in the circuit of the battery 25 and putting them into operation. 'The lamp 27 is preferably mounted in a box or casing 35 so as to rotate about the shaft 36, the arrangement being such that the. lamp is normally hidden in the box 35,,but is turned out of the box, on being switched on or put in operation, and is only therebymade visible. For this purpose an arm 37 mounted on the shaft 36 of the lamp 27 is coupled by a bar 38 to a second arm 39 on the rotary shaft of the emergency lever 22 which, on the emergency lever 22 being operated, turns the lamp 27 downwards out of the casing visible.

Through the interruption of the ignition circuit of the engine, which is effected simultaneously with the release of the emergency brake arrangement by means of the lever 22, and the consequent stopping of the engine the action of the emergency brake arrangement is considerably assisted, as the engine is driven by the rear wheels which are still running and through the friction and the continuous compression itself has a strong braking action. The push bar 14 is preferably so constructed that the successive pushes which are exerted by it and operate the brakes do not, give a hard blow, but act in an elastic manner, so as to avoid the danger of fracture and to cause these blows, to increase continuously in strength. The former is efiectcd by the provision of a buffer spring 40 in the push bar 14, as shown in Figure 4, and the latter by the stroke of the lever arm 13 on the brake shaft 5 actuated by the push bar 14, being caused to increase gradually through the constant displacement of the point at which the push bar 14 acts. For this purpose the push bar 14 is not pivoted directly to the lever arm 13, but to a sleeve 41 which is slidable on the same (Fig. 4) and on the push bar' 14, close to the said sleeve 41 a downwardly directed pawl'44 is pivoted, which is kept in engagement ,by a spring 42 with the ratchet teeth 43 provided on the frame 13, and which slides the sleeve 41. at each stroke of the arm'13 through a 35 and renders itcertain distance along the arm 13 towards the pivot of the same, and consequently the point at w'vhich the push bar 14 acts, so that 3 the stroke of the lever arm 13 and with it the brake force constantly increases.

it is not necessary to give any further detailed description of how the emergency brake and signaling device act, as this will 7 be clear from the above description of the arrangement, It may be mentioned however, 1 that an arrangement is also provided, not shown in the drawing, which is capable of being put into operation by the means within the car for putting the emergency brake and slgnallng arrangements into operation and which makes 1t posslble in case of emergency to control the steering'mechanism of the car aswell from the interior of the car. What I claim is: 1. An emergency brake and signaling arrangement for'motor cars carrying passengers,characterized by a second automatic brake operating device which is quite independent of the ordinary brake and signal operating-devices to be operated by the driver, and'by a separate acoustic andaseparate optical emergency signal and also characterized by a controlling member -mounted inside the car within reach of the passenger and secured in its inoperative position aga nst improper use by a lead seal \vliicl1 can be broken, which controlling member is connected on the one hand by a lever and pull bar mechanism with a looking member for keeping a second brake op erating arrangement in the inoperative position and with the optical emergency. sig nal and on the other hand with an electric contact device which, when in the inoperative position, keeps the ignition circuit of the engine of the car closed and another circuit for operating the acoustic and optical 7 emergency signal interrupted, but which,

when moved out of its inoperative position,

releases the locking member of the second brake operating device and thereby connects the latter to a rotatable member, which puts the second brake operating device in. operation, the optical emergency signal into a visible position and at" the same time sets the contact-device in such a manner that it interrupts the ignition circuit and closes the circuit operating the two emergency signals. 2. A constructional form of the second operating means for the brake claimed in claim 1, characterized bya push bar pivotally connected at one end to a lever arm mounted on one ofthe brake shafts, the

other end of which push bar is provided with a lugand is kept raised, when in the inoperative position, by the locking member which is capable of being released by the controlling member within the car in opposition to a spring tending to force it downwards, but which, when released by the locking member engages bymeans of its lug With a caln disc turning with a rotating part of the car and thereby inte'rinit tently operates the brakes; t a

,3. A constructional form of the intermittent push bar mechanism as claimed in claim 2, characterized by the feature that the push bar is not pivoted directly to the lever arm of the brake lever but to a sleeve sliding on the same which sleeve is pushed closer to the axis of rotationof the lever arm by a ratchet mechanism at each stroke,

ofithe push bar, for the purpose of constantly increasing the throw of the said 1ever and with it the pressurerivithwhich the brakes are applied. c t 7 45A constructional term of the push bar as claimed in claim 2', characterized by the verarm operated the push bar and the ordinary brake lever to be operated by the driver and one ofthe lever arms coupling the two brake shafts with one another, are

arrangedyfor preventing the ordinary brake operating mechanism actmg on the second brake operating mechamsmand vice Versa,

so asto have their hubs capable of rocking treely on the brake shafts in the OPPOSItG direction to their operative dlrectlon, while,

in the operative direction they'carry the hrakeshaiits roundwiththem.

6. A constructional term of the arrange} ment as claimed in claim 1, in combination with an arrangement capable ofbeing-put in operation {by the controlling membermounted within the car for actuating the emergency brake and signaling arrangement, by meanso'l which the steering mechanism ot the car can be controlled independently of the driver from within the car as well;

Intestimony whereof I havesigned my name to th s spec tication.

LEOPQLD FAZEKAS. y 

